There are many different kinds of color input and color output devices. Examples of color input devices include scanners and digital cameras. Examples of color output devices include printing devices (e.g., inkjet printers, laser printers, offset printing devices, etc.) and display devices (e.g., CRT devices, video projectors, etc.).
Because many of these devices can interpret colors differently, device color profiles are often used to enable color information to be accurately shared and reproduced across platforms. A color printing device, for example, may make use of a device color profile to transform color information into the device's own local color space. The device color profile typically accounts and/or corrects for various characteristics of the color printing device including, for example, the media type presently being used. An example of a standardized device color profile format is provided by the International Color Consortium (ICC).
A characterization procedure is often used to define a device color profile for a color output device, such as a color printing device.
A typical characterization procedure, as applied to a color printing device, may involve the use of a characterization target that includes a number of different color fields each having a unique intended color value. For ease of discussion, a color field in a characterization target may be referred to herein as a “test patch”.
The printing device prints the characterization target and the color value of each printed test patch is measured. These measurements, along with the known intended color values of each test patch, are subsequently used to define the device color profile for the printing device.
It would be desirable to reduce the number of test patch measurements needed to define a suitable device color profile for a color output device as this could reduce, for example, the amount of time needed to perform a characterization. One prior art solution to this problem is described in a patent entitled “PRINTER CHARACTERIZATION ADJUSTMENT FOR DIFFERENT PAPERS”, having U.S. Pat. No. 6,654,143. That Patent is incorporated herein by reference.
Improved solutions, however, are needed.